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Saturday, December 3, 2011

Broadway Across America: RAIN

When I was a kid, Mama Lou always said to me, "Melissa, you never say no. Someone could invite you to a pig-calling contest, and you'd say 'Sure! When?'"

I am still waiting for someone to invite me to a pig-calling contest. I'd love to go.

But it's kind of awesome that my blogging hobby has led to me being invited to go see so many things so often. I'm still that kid Mama was talking to-- I still almost never say "no" to an invitation. And that has served me so well so often, I hope I don't ever have to stop saying "yes."

So when the folks at Broadway Across America invited me to see RAIN, the Beatles tribute that just left Broadway and is now touring, I didn't think twice.

Confession: I'm one of those rare people who is totally apathetic about the Beatles. I understand the power behind the songwriting and the musicianship and all that, but I just don't dig the Beatles the way that (seemingly) most people do. In fact-- ghastly admission coming-- my "desert island discs" list would include the album "The Monkees" but nothing by the Beatles (seriously people, I know that the Monkees were a manufactured band, but a vast number of their songs are just... stunningly good!).

So I was kind of feeling a little meh about seeing RAIN, but I'm so glad I went. And holy cow, if you're a bonafide fan of the Beatles, I'm sure you'd love it! Imagine seeing a fabulous cover band, then put the power of Broadway behind the production.... These men replicate the Beatles' sound impeccably and have been doing so (most of them) since the mid-80's (right around when Mama was chiding me about the pig-calling contests). Four costume and set changes. Multi-media stuff that's both new and historic. So well done, overall.

And the crowd... I'm still kind of baffled by it. First of all, Roommate and I were two of the youngest people in the audience. Secondly, some of these people (mostly women) reacted to RAIN as though the were the actual Beatles. Hooting, hollering, swooning. But as Roommate said, any band that can keep a group of people on their feet for more than thirty minutes has something going on.

There are two shows left on Saturday, December 3. If you're an honest-to-goodness Beatles fan, you're not going to want to miss this.